08:35 AM CST on Saturday, December 10, 2005

By Rush Wood / The Beaumont Enterprise

TYLER — Despite all of his offensive brilliance Friday night, Toddrick Pendland made perhaps the largest difference in the outcome of the 2005 Class 2A Division I championship game with his defensive ability.

With Argyle threatening to complete what would have been a near-miraculous comeback from a 28-point deficit, Pendland raced in to deflect a crucial fourth-down pass to help preserve Newton’s 28-20 victory before a Rose Stadium crowd of about 7,000.

“Toddrick is probably our best defensive player in the secondary,” said Newton coach Curtis Barbay. “We just don’t put him back there much, because he’s so valuable on offense.

“In a time like that, though, why not have your best out there and hope that he steps up and makes the play?”

Quarterback Will Peyton, who had sparked two earlier second-half scoring drives to help pull Argyle to within 28-20, was facing a fourth-and-four from the Newton 44-yard line when Pendland made his key deflection with 1:47 remaining.

“We knew we had to stop that play; we didn’t want them [Argyle] to get any closer to our goal,” said a smiling Pendland while clutching the championship trophy near midfield a couple of minutes after the game. “We just did what our coaches told us to. They told us to watch out for the out route. He [Peyton] threw the ball almost directly at me, and all I had to do was jump up and knock it away.”

After Newton was forced to punt from midfield with 43 seconds remaining, Nicholas Adams made one last big defensive play to help second-ranked Newton finish its third championship season with a spotless 13-0 record. The sophomore intercepted a desperation Peyton heave at Newton’s 44-yard line and returned it 19 yards.

Pendland’s offensive contributions included running for 97 yards on 19 carries and scoring on an impressive 23-yard run. The 168-pound senior also logged 100 yards on five receptions, including TD grabs of 51 and 30 yards.

“It wasn’t just me,” said Pendland, who finished the season with 1,179 rushing yards. “I can’t get yards without my teammates blocking for me.

“The same goes for the catches. I can’t catch the ball without a good quarterback. He (Darrell Jenkins) was on target tonight. He was putting the ball right in my hands; all I had to do was hang onto it.”

Jenkins, who suffered an ankle injury while attempting to get first-down yardage on a fourth-down play early in the fourth quarter, was almost perfect in the passing department as he completed seven-of-eight attempts for 137 yards and did not throw an interception. He also picked up 64 rushing yards on 15 carries, including a 1-yard sneak for the Eagles’ second TD.

As for Newton racing out to the 28-0 lead then having to hang on behind its defense in the second half, Barbay said, “Sometimes when you jump out to a big early lead, you tend to let up off the accelerator. A lot of times when you do that, it’s hard to get your foot back down on it.

“Shucks, you can’t score 50 or 60 points in every game. All you need is one more (point) than the other guys have. There’s nothing wrong with winning a game with your defense.”

With Peyton consistently hitting passes to Brice Bode and Victor Gill, Argyle made it close by staging second-half scoring drives of 71 and 51 yards. Jeff Martz, who rushed for 79 yards on 17 carries, finished each one of them with a 1-yard scoring plunge. He also had a 3-yard run to cap Argyle’s 83-yard TD drive late in the first half.

Peyton finished with 22 completions on 39 attempts for 290 yards with three interceptions. Bode had 11 catches for 161 yards, and Gill had seven for 89.

In addition to Adams’ interception, Jenkins and Josh Adams had picks in the first half.

Newton quickly established its authority by scoring on its first four possessions. The drives covered 69 yards on five plays, 58 on 10, 51 on nine and 64 on five, putting the Eagles in command by 28-0 at the midpoint of the second quarter.

Pendland, who accounted for 155 all-purpose yards in the first half, and Jenkins, who threw two TD passes and ran for another, figured prominently in all of the early action.
On the final play of the Eagles’ first possession, Jenkins alertly used his quickness to avoid a heavy Argyle rush, then found Pendland open down the right sideline for the 51-yard touchdown.
After holding Argyle to a three-and-out, the Eagles converted two fourth-down plays en route to the second TD. Jermaine Nash ran for the first big first down, and Pendland got the second with a 5-yard punch up the middle to put the ball on the 1. Jenkins sneaked into the end zone on the next play.
A Terrence Freeman fumble recovery set up the Eagles’ next scoring drive. It appeared stalled when they faced a fourth-and-15 from the 23, but Pendland knifed his way up the middle, cut back to his right and sprinted past several dazed Argyle defenders on his way to the end zone.
Alfred initiated the Eagles’ final first-half scoring drive with an 18-yard pickup on an end around, and Jenkins capped it by executing a neat play-action fake then floating the 30-yard pass to Pendland near the left side of the end zone.
Argyle, which managed zero first downs and a mere 12 yards of offense in the first quarter, cut its deficit to 28-7 late in the half with an 83-yard drive that featured two third-down catches by Bode and a pass of 20 yards from Peyton to Martz to reach the 3-yard-line. Martz slammed off right tackle for the score on the next play.
Alfred made one of Newton’s few first-half mistakes when he fumbled away the ball on the ensuing kickoff, but made amends a few seconds later by coming up with the Eagles’ second interception of the half.